Pretzels take 3rd at Shelbyville Tournament

Pretzels take 3rd at Shelbyville Tournament

This weekend the New Berlin volleyball team took 3rd place in the Shelbyville Tournament. The team had a record of 3-2; defeating Casey-Westfield 25-21, 25-18, Shelbyville 25-23, 25-13 and Pana 25-15, 25-18. They lost to Paris 25-20, 22-25, 12-15 and Charleston 25-22, 21-25, 11-15.

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Southeast seeking donations for e-sports team

Competitive video gaming, or E-sports, is one of the fastest growing competitive scenes in the world. And that scene is making its way to Central Illinois. The Illinois College e-sports team regularly competes against Big 10 schools and semipro teams. Southeast Springfield High School is looking to join the action. Southeast will be the first high school in Springfield to field an e-sports team.

E-sports, like any other team, is an opportunity to students to represent their school and get a real shot at a scholarship. But while e-sports don’t require the large facilities that other sports do, they do have equipment costs. Computers, mice, headsets, and the other kit necessary to take part can be out of reach for some students.

To make sure all students have the opportunity to showcase their talents, Southeast coach Dalton McGhiey is asking for donations on his go fund me page. You can learn more about the Southeast team on their campaign page as well.

Abe’s Roundball Classic set for holiday week

Abe’s Roundball Classic boys basketball tournament is set for Tuesday, Nov. 20, Wednesday, Nov. 21, Friday, Nov. 23, and Saturday, Nov. 24, at Lincoln Land Community College Cass Gymnasium. This event will feature eight boys basketball teams from across the state, including District 186’s own Lanphier Lions. Green Family Stores is sponsoring the tournament.

The tournament is an opportunity for local student athletes to compete against teams they would not see in their regular season, and gives Springfield a chance to watch nationally ranked recruits and student athletes who have been invited to Olympic trials. Chicago Orr is the defending 2A state champion and ranked preseason number one, and North Chicago was 4th in the 3A state championship last year.

Tickets are $5 per person. There is free parking located in the Cass Gymnasium lot. Concessions will be available.

Video games may soon join scholastic bowl, football, and bass fishing

The organization that manages everything from football and volleyball to bass fishing and scholastic bowl at Illinois’ high schools could soon add video games to its list.

A number of Illinois high schools already have e-sports teams. Those are teams that play video games competitively. E-sports across the globe was worth $1.5 billion last year.

Craig Anderson with the Illinois High School Association, which oversees high school sports and activities in Illinois, said e-sports are becoming very popular, almost popular enough to see a high school season.

“I think we have more than the number of schools that have identified on a list,” Anderson said. “But, to date, we think we have about 25 schools that have indicated to us that they have a team that is competing.”

It will take time for e-sports to become an official IHSA activity.

Anderson said IHSA recently hosted its first lacrosse state championship after years of exploring the sport.

Although some people may not consider video games a sport, Anderson said there’s always value in teamwork and giving young people a sense of pride in anything they do.

“Some people would argue that gaming, and just sitting at a computer lab or a monitor is not healthy,” Anderson said. “But I think that it’s competition. And there’s a benefit to competition, even at that level.”

Anderson said the IHSA is exploring e-sports as an activity. Member schools would have to push to make it official, then the organization would vote on a season, rules, teams and the like.